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How is Child Support Calculated in Connecticut?

Clients often ask what they can expect to receive or pay in child support. In Connecticut, child support is determined in accordance with the Connecticut Child Support and Arrearage Guidelines. In short, the Guidelines provide for a child support amount that is a function of a percentage of the parents’ combined net weekly incomes, up to $4,000 per week, and the number of children the parents have. That amount is considered the presumptive support order, and in every case with minor children, the court must determine what the presumptive support order is.

For families with combined net weekly income exceeding $4,000 per week, calculating the presumptive support order is trickier. The law provides that the presumptive child support order should range between the Guidelines amount at the $4,000 combined net weekly income level and the percentage of combined net weekly income at the $4,000 applied to the parties’ actual combined net weekly income. The Connecticut Supreme Court has set forth certain parameters for high-income child support cases, including that child support in these cases is not intended to be additional alimony or an additional transfer of wealth from one parent to the other.

In all cases, other factors that the court may consider, in addition to the Guidelines, are the parents’:

·        Age

·        Health,

·        Station

·        Occupation

·        Earning capacity

·        Amount and sources of income

·        Estate

·        Vocational skills and employability


And the child(ren)’s:

·        Age

·        Health

·        Station

·        Occupation

·        Educational status and expectation

·        Amount and sources of income

·        Vocational skills

·        Employability

·        Estate and needs of the child.



The parties or the court are free to deviate from that presumptive support order in the following circumstances:

·        Other financial resources available to a parent

·        Extraordinary expenses for the care and maintenance of the child

·        Extraordinary parental expenses

·        Needs of a parent’s other dependents

·        Coordination of total family support

·        Special circumstances (i.e. shared physical custody, best interests of the child or extraordinary disparity in parental income)


In all cases, the child support order continues until the latter of the child graduating from high school or turning 18, except that it may not extend beyond a child’s 19th birthday. In limited cases, if there is a child with an intellectual, mental or physical disability, as defined by statute, who resides with a parent and is principally dependent upon the parent for maintenance, the child support order may extend until the age of 21.



Contact Us To Discuss Your Particular Case

Child support matters are often fact specific. For that reason, it is best to consult an experienced attorney about your case. The attorneys at Ferro, Battey & Eucalitto, LLC have extensive experience negotiating and litigating all types of child support matters, including obtaining one of the highest child support awards in the history of Connecticut, and are equipped to handle your child support matter.

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